We Know Not What to Do … Our Eyes are on You! (April Update)

Amazing things have happened in Ukraine since our last update – both good and bad! To begin with, the revolution in Ukraine made an amazing, maybe even miraculous, turn around the day after we sent out our last update. Then I told you about the brave Ukrainians who had been surrounded by the government forces and seemed to be on the verge of being overrun at any moment. The government had closed the metro and all roads coming into Kiev and had placed sandbags and military vehicles and machine guns at the roadblocks. More and more Special Forces were being brought into Kiev coming off buses with automatic weapons and with the permission to use them. The protesters were surrounded on three sides by the government forces. Things seemed pretty hopeless for the anti-government forces.

I awoke on the morning of February 20th to watch the live feed from Maidan as I have nearly every morning since the protests began in November. Something strange happened. Snipers from around the square (Maidan) began firing into the largely unarmed crowds. Small groups of people began to come out from behind the barricades to try to attack the police firing at them. Many of them we instantly shot but others kept coming. Then something amazing happened. The police began pulling back, even running form the scene. When they did, more people poured out after them. I thought it was a trick to get the people to come out from the protected area, but the police kept running and boarded buses and left even though they clearly had overwhelmingly superior firepower! Many of the police were captured. When asked why they ran, they said, they did not know. Their commanders ran leaving them without instructions so they either ran or surrendered. The full details of what happened that day are still not clear but it seemed like a miracle that the government forces pulled out so quickly. Still they left nearly 100 killed and thousands injured.

Over the next few hours, even more amazing events occurred as government officials fled Ukraine in all directions, including president Yanukovich. Many of them had trouble leaving the country because border guards refused to let them leave without proper documents! Parliament reassembled and began the task of installing the new government. It was amazing to watch them at work (my classes were cancelled due to the crisis so Katya and I watched the sessions of Parliament). They worked on measures to restore a functioning government and passed nearly everything with little dissent. Even members of Yanukovich’s own party were voting in line with the opposition. The sole hold outs were the communists who either abstained or voted against nearly everything.

The change in the spirit in Ukraine was amazing! We went from a terrible sense of oppression to a sense of relief and excitement. The new government worked hard to include a coalition from all groups as they appointed leaders from Jewish, gypsies and other minority groups. They changed the corrupt court system and police system almost overnight. The change in Ukraine was amazing after 3 months of daily tension.

Russia’s invasion …

Then things changed again. Everyone had been saying that after the Olympics, Putin might try to take Ukrainian territories. Russian media began to portray the new government as Fascists and they circulated stories about right-wing nationalists walking around with Kalashnikovs and killing Russian-speaking people in the streets. All of this was complete propaganda. Jewish leaders denied the Russian claims that the new government was persecuting Jews. The streets in Ukraine were more peaceful than they had been since the government crackdowns of the protests. But Russian media said refugees (over 120,000) were fleeing across the border to escape the Fascists in Ukraine. They even showed a picture of a border crossing. However, it was clear in the picture that the border was in Poland, not Russia and the cameras at the border cross where they claimed refugees were coming showed no unusual activity!

In a matter of a few days, Russia sent over 28,000 troops to Crimea under the guise of a military exercise. They continued to claim (and still do) that there are no Russian troops in Crimea in spite of massive video evidence to the contrary. They also scheduled an election to remove Crimea from Ukraine and annex it to Russia. The ballot includes only two choices 1) join Russia or 2) leave Ukraine and become an independent country (under Russian control). This vote takes place tomorrow. No international observers or journalists have been permitted into Crimea. Nearly 400,000 more ballots were printed than there are people in Crimea and there is even evidence many ballots are already printed with a “yes” vote for Russia! Every country in the world except for North Korea and Syria has condemned the Russian actions and declared the referendum to be illegal.

Russian Build Up …

But that might not be the worst. Russia has continued to build up forces on Ukraine’s borders, now with over 200,000 troops and tanks and attack helicopters ready. Russia is sending busloads of people across the border to create conflicts and start fights. After the fights are controlled, Russian media says, See, this is proof that we need to send our troops to protect the Russian-speakers in Ukraine. All this in spite of the fact that the pro-Russians are creating the problems and starting the fighting. Putin has said Russia has the right to intervene in Russia for many reasons: 1) to protect Russian-speaking people there; and 2) because Ukrainian government is made up of Fascists; and 3) because Ukraine never legally left the USSR so it is still part of Russia!

We do not know what will happen in the coming days. Ukraine is preparing to fight if Russia continues its advance. But Ukraine is seriously outmatched with the superior weapons of Russia. We continue to pray that another miracle with happen and Putin will somehow back down. We are praying that the Western powers (including the US) would keep their commitments to Ukraine and at least make Putin think twice before invading. But the truth is … “We know not what to do… our eyes are on You, O Lord!” Please be praying for Ukraine in the coming days!

Life, Ministry and Plans …

Right now, things are safe for us. We don’t know what will happen in the coming days. We continue to be involved in our ministries. I’m currently teaching a class at the seminary on prayer. In this class are church planters and men in the pastoral leadership program. Two of the students are from Armenia. We continue to be involved in the ministries of our church and working with Campus ministries when we can on the university campuses. Finally, I’m continuing my Russian classes at the university. These classes have been very helpful. Everything is in Russian – explanations, lectures, definitions of words – so I am really learning rapidly. This has taken the bulk of my time (about 6-7 hours a day total, not including travel time). But it will certainly be a big help in ministering here in Ukraine.

Many are asking if we will leave Ukraine if things get worse. That is a very difficult question for us. Right now, many US missionaries are returning to the states until the situation is more stable. But, for now, we think it is best to stay as long as we are not in any direct personal danger. We realize this is a difficult decision because, if things do become dangerous, it might be too late to leave. But, especially with many missionaries leaving, it might be even more important for us to be here. We also have the added concern of Katya’s family being here too. Finally, we understand that being a missionary anywhere has its risks. So we ask that you would pray for our safety and for wisdom to know if and when we need to leave the country if things get worse. Please pray too for our students and graduates. They are ministering in many ways to share the gospel and minister to people even in these difficult times. And we have many graduates in Crimea and even chaplains in the Ukrainian armed forces that are in direct danger. So we ask that you would be praying for them also.

Thanks so much for your prayers and support! We will try to keep giving updates and information about the situation in Ukraine through Facebook. Please do remember to be praying for Ukraine – that God would work in a surprising way like we saw happen during the time of the protests on Maidan! “Lord, we know not what to do, but our eyes are upon You!”